Recovering from the nightmares caused by Lukas and their father was harder than expected. One of the worst things for Eli was looking down at his trembling and stiff hands. He couldn't move them as easily as he wanted to after Clark fractured them. He would stare at the piano and curse his luck. He wanted to play like he normally did, but the pain was unbearable.
He was starting his second semester of his Junior year at Hawkings and he felt worthless.
Jonas was sitting with him in his dorm's common room and trying to help him complete the strengthening exercises.
Eli tried his finger touching exercises but his hands were trembling too much. He let out a cry from the pain and the kicked the table out of frustration. "I can't fucking do it, Jo. I can't. I can't even do these goddamn exercises, so I know I can't play the piano anymore. He fucking took that from me!"
Jaiden had moved to Millan's dorm, so there was only Hugh and Travis with them and they were sitting in the kitchen. Jonas sent them to their rooms with a look.
Eli finally lost his self control because of the pain and continued to screamed at Jonas. Everything that bubbled inside of him was released and he took it out on Jonas... his frustration, his fears, and sadness.
Jonas just sat there and watched him with gentle eyes and a sad smile. Everything on his face read "I understand". How could he not understand when he had gone through the same exercises and pain before? How many times did he lay in the hospital bed and wondered if he was going to fight ever again?
He didn't say anything because he knew that Eli needed to come to terms with his pain and the events that led up to it.
Eli yelled until his voice was hoarse and he collapsed on the couch. Jonas wrapped his arms around his tense body and hugged him. When Eli calmed down he broke out of the hug and took a deep breath.
"Ok... let's start again." He said with a trembling voice.
Jonas didn't hesitate and helped him with the exercises.
When he was done Jonas smiled happily and ruffled his hair, making Eli tense again for a moment and then he relaxed. Jonas stood up and pulled Travis out of his room. He had been pacing in there the entire time, but refrained from interfering.
Jonas wished them a goodnight and walked to his room with Hugh, closing the door behind him. He left Travis and Eli alone. Travis looked at Eli nervously and sat down next to him. Travis had been very cautious around Eli ever since they reunited at the hospital. The closest he had been to Eli was when Jonas tucked him into the hospital bed. But after that, he only held Eli's hands, never getting closer. He kept a safe distance and only gave careful touches.
And Eli noticed. He felt like Travis was distancing himself.
Eli was slightly hunched over and sighed. "Am I too broken for you?"
Travis jumped. "What? No!"
Eli shook his head. "But you're different. You can't stand to touch me. You can't look at me without pity in your eyes. And your smile is... sad. The energy you used to have around me has become muted."
Travis bit his lip and clasped his hands together. "It's not that... I hate seeing you in pain. Also... You don't like being touched." His voice was extremely quiet.
Eli opened his mouth to protest. He never said he disliked being touched.
But Travis continued, knowing Eli was going to fight it. "You hide it, but I still see it. You flinch or tense when someone touches you, even Jonas... I... I dont want to scare you."
Eli shook and realized it was true. Lily hugged him and he flinched. Alex patted his shoulder once, and he couldn't breathe for a moment. Jonas ruffled his hair just now and he tensed... Jonas was his protector and his brother yet he still tensed.
He placed a shaky hand over his mouth. "Oh my god."
"I started to read some books about it, but I didn't know how to bring it up. I'm sorry, Eli." Travis said quietly. Eli looked over and saw the tears were falling down Travis' cheeks.
He reached up and carefully wiped Travis tears.
"The first time I saw you was at the end of May last year. Your hair was a little longer then." He ran his fingers through Travis' curls. "You were at the mall wearing a light blue shirt that made your eyes so bright. You were running out of a music shop with the warmest smile I have ever seen. At that time, I was learning how to live without Jo for the first time. My father was always angry, and I was.. suffocating. But the moment I saw you, I could breathe again."
Travis gasped a little. "May? But we met so much later."
Eli laughed. "I know... I couldn't approach you because the moment I did, I would give up on hiding my secret. Everything Jo did to keep me safe would be all for naught. Instead, I went to the mall every week just in hopes to see you, because a glance was all I needed... until I quite literally ran into you. And like I expected, I was done for."
He picked up Travis' hands and placed them on his own cheeks, resting his hands on top of Travis'.
"Talking to you for the first time felt like a dream. So the last thing I want is to be scared of you and Jo." Eli said with a broken voice. "Help me."
Travis sniffled and nodded in response.
Eli wrapped his arms around Travis' waist and pulled him on his lap. He held him with his head resting the in nook of his neck. He lightly kissed Travis' neck, making him whimper.
Eli pulled back abruptly and gave Travis a surprised look. "What was that?" He asked.
Travis was red and was looking away. "Nothing."'
Eli leaned in and kissed his neck again, eliciting the same sound. Travis moved his hands to cover the sides of his neck while Eli grinned.
Travis pouted. "I'm sensitive." He mumbled.
Eli moved his hand under his chin and lifted his flushed face. He leaned in and placed his lips on Travis'. With a muffled sigh, Travis gave in and reciprocated the kiss. He moved his hands slowly and grabbed onto Eli's shirt.
Eli broke away and smiled. "Can I tell you something?"
Travis nodded for his reply, the heat rushing to his face.
Eli suddenly became somewhat bashful. "That was my first kiss."
Travis clasped his hands over his mouth and had wide eyes. He giggled and then threw his arms around Eli's neck.
Eli winced a little from the sudden contact, which made Travis gasp and try to pull away when he realized what he did. Eli pulled him back and kept him pressed against his chest.
"I'm sorry Eli." Travis said in the quietest voice.
Eli sighed and kissed the top of his head. "Please be patient with me, Angel. I don't know how long it will take, but I will be better."
Travis smiled. "I can wait because I'm all in... For the long run."
It was late by the time they relaxed and finished talking. Travis pulled Eli into his room and curled up with him on his bed. Eli finally got some restful sleep, free of nightmares.
However when the morning came, he was woken up by someone cursing. "Shit!"
Eli and Travis ran out of the room to see what happened and saw Jonas and Hugh topless in the kitchen. Hugh was sitting on the counter holding a glass of orange juice the air while the other hand was rubbing his shoulder.
"You seriously bit me!" Hugh complained, which drew a smirk from Jonas.
"Haven't I promised multiple times that I would." He stepped closer and wrapped a hand around Hugh's back.
Hugh chuckled. "Yeah, but I didn't mean over a glass of orange juice."
Jonas wet his lips with his tongue and pulled Hugh closer to him. "Then how about you teach me when and where I should bite you."
Eli groaned. "Seriously you two need to stop flirting every chance you get. It's too fucking early."
The pair jumped from the unexpected voice and Jonas pulled away from Hugh.
"Don't say 'fuck'!" Jonas scolded.
Hugh chuckled and then turned his glass over Jonas, pouring the orange juice on him. "Oh no... I guess we need to shower now."
Jonas gave Hugh an incredulous look, picked him up and threw him over his shoulder. "I'll clean up the mess later." He yelled back to them and took off to their room with a laughing Hugh.
Eli sighed and took Travis' hand, leading him back into bedroom and closed the door. He grabbed his phone and started to play music. "I'm never moving in with them." He groaned.
---*---
Their last semester went by far too quickly. After Hugh and Jonas graduated, they announced that they were going to get married. Although it was sudden, it wasn't unexpected.
When people asked when they got engaged, they would just shrugged. Eli finally got some information from Hugh after some pestering. Apparently Jonas said he was going to marry Hugh when he was recovering in the hospital. They didn't need much motivation after that, and acted like it just was something that was just meant to happen.
They told their group of friends that there were just going to run to the courthouse, but a tantrum from Travis stopped it all. Travis said that he had to deal with months of never knowing if they were an official couple, and many months more with their far too public displays of affection so they had no right to marry in secret.
So they relented on having a small ceremony in the Richards' backyard.
Jonas and Hugh said that they wanted something small, but there was nothing small about two revered Kings getting married. Live streams and party crashers invaded the Richards' home. However even the Richards' admitted that the pure and utter chaos was fitting for the two of them. They accepted the over abundance of people who just wanted to celebrate Mad Dog and the Wolf.
While waiting for the ceremony to begin, Jonas was tilted back in his chair, with his legs propped up on the table. Hugh was next to him and leaning against his shoulder, his music playing loudly on his headphones so Jonas could listen in. Both of them wore simple button down shirts and slacks, but no tie. Travis tried to get them to wear one, but Jonas flat out refused and mumbled something about the last one getting ruined.
Eli was close enough to hear it and he kicked Jonas to immediately shut down the conversation. He could tell that the other people in the room wanted to start in with the jokes, including Hugh. He was not going to hear any of it.
Travis was holding Eli's hand while he was on the phone and rambling off orders. He seemed to be more stressed out than the two who were actually getting married.
Jonas laughed a little and pulled Eli close. "Imagine what your wedding will be like when you marry Travis."
Eli blushed furiously. "We... we haven't even talked about it. I'm still in school."
Jonas grinned. "Sometimes, you just know these things. Don't wait to be stabbed in the back by a psycho before you propose."
"You shouldn't joke about shit like that." Eli grumbled.
He hated that memory of watching the videos of Jonas being stabbed multiple times. He had chastised Jonas countless times about how stupid that move was. He could have pushed Hugh out of the way, or pulled him over to the side. Anything except for turn and shield.
But Jonas would always shrug and ramble off excuses like "Hugh was already hurt. If I pushed him, he could have reopened his wound" or "Lukas was in a crazed state and nothing would have stopped him except for that".
But Eli knew the truth and he blamed himself. Jonas only knew how to protect by sacrificing his body. It was ingrained in him since he was seven years old. He grew up accepting the worst possible abuse so he could minimize the damage inflicted on Eli. So when he saw Lukas rushing towards Hugh with the knife, his body reacted naturally. He protected and accepted all of the pain.
But Eli no longer had to be the only one who lectured him about it. Hugh had been working with Jonas constantly, trying to make him realize that he couldn't take it all on his own. He needed to protect himself as well. When Hugh first brought it up, it resulted in a brutal argument. And when Jonas seemed to be shutting down, Hugh dragged him to the gym for a couple of hours. They returned bloodied with Jonas carrying Hugh on his back, but both were smiling. They were truly better at communicating with their fists sometimes.
Breaking him from his thoughts, Travis got off the phone and jumped a little. "We're ready!"
He started to direct everyone on where to go and ushered Hugh and Jonas out the door. Eli couldn't help but to admire how the couple was not nervous in the least. Hugh wrapped his arm around Jonas' shoulders as they walked down the aisle together. The music could hardly be heard over the cheers. But Jonas and Hugh were in their own world, carrying on a private conversation in the midst of the noise.
They reached the end of the aisle and wouldn't stop their conversation. The officiant wanted to begin the wedding and coughed a little to make them stop, but they ignored everyone around him.
Finally Travis came running up and tugged at their sleeves. "Shut the fuck up for five damn minutes!"
They begrudgingly complied and listened to the smaller man. They happily exchanged their vows, never faltering or hesitating during the ceremony. They acted like their wedding was something that was just supposed to happen, like it was as normal as the sunrise.